Hard drive enclosures come in many
shapes and sizes, and they can be a very useful gadget for taking
large amounts of data with you if need be.

Today for review I’ve got another
portable hard drive enclosure, but this on is a bit different, it
features a dock that fits into your 5.25” bay. You insert the
enclosure into the dock, transfer your data, then just pop the
enclosure back out and away you go. It’s a nice idea that I find very
useful and convenient.

So read one to learn more…

Product
Name: Eagle iNeo I-NA303USUE 3.5”/5.25” SATA to USB/eSATA docking
station with enclosure

Author: Kristofer
Brozio

Sponsor: EagleTech

Tech
Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Eagle
iNeo I-NA303USUE 3.5”/5.25” SATA to USB/eSATA docking station
with enclosure

OVERVIEW:

Tired of keeping multiple
copies of the same data across different PCs and notebooks? All you
need is this 3.5” drive enclosure while on the road, and the 5.25”
docking station while at home or office. This two-in-one storage
solution is ideal for road warriors who need to stay highly mobile
and synchronized at multiple locations. Supports latest 1.5TB drives.

FEATURES:

-Two-in-one storage solution

-3.5” solid aluminum
enclosure

-5.25” plastic docking
station

-Tool less, hot swappable and
dockable

-Just snap-in your drive and it
is ready for use

-Patented F.I.T. (Fast
Installation Technology)

-Plug-n-Play via USB 2.0

-3.0Gbps eSATA

-Usage: Stay mobile and
synchronized at multiple locations

SPECIFICATION:

-Type: External drive enclosure

-Form Factor: 3.5”/5.25”

-Hard Drive Compatibility:
1.5TB

-Internal Interface: SATA I/II

-External Interface: Hi-speed
USB 2.0 and eSATA

-Data Transfer Rate: 480Mbps
and 3.0Gbps

-Power Source: USB powered or
Universal Switching Power Adapter (5V/12V 2.0A)

-Power Input: 5V DC or
100-240VAC, 50/60Hz

-Certification: FCC, CE
Certified and RoHS compliant

-O.S. Required: Microsoft
Win98SE/Vista/ME/2000/XP Mac OS 9.0 or higher Linux

-Dimension: 5.0 x 7.8 x 1.1
inch

-Weight: 2.6 lbs

PACKAGE
CONTENT:

-3.5” enclosure

-5.25” docking station

-Power adapter

-Resource CD

-Quick installation guide

-Certified USB 2.0 and eSATA
cables

A
Better Look at Things:

The Eagle iNeo I-NA303USUE comes
in a carrying case style box with the little handle on the top,
there’s a few pictures and of course the specs and features listed.

There’s quite a bit included with
the enclosure, eSATA cable, USB cable, power supply, power cable,
driver CD, screws, user manual and of course the enclosure and dock
itself.

Here’s few pics of the dock
setup, I connects inside your computer via SATA and a standard Molex
for power. There a spring loaded clip inside the dock that locks and
secures the enclosure in place, you just push on it and the enclosure
pops out to take with you.

The actual enclosure is aluminum,
on the front are power and activity LEDs, on the back are connections
for USB and SATA along with a power connections and a power switch.

Installation,
Testing and Comparison:

Installation is similar to any
other HDD enclosure, just put a hard drive into it and secure it in
place.

Then you just need to install the
dock in a free 5.25” bay and your basically set, the whole setup is
simple.

Of course you can use it as a
portable HDD as well, I think it’s rather cool to have it dock like
this, just pop out the hdd and go.

I
compared the EagleTech to other enclosures I’ve got on hand and a
standard SATA internally connected HDD as well, the same HDD was used
for all testing. I used SiSoft Sandra 2009 for the testing.

First up is compared with the
Eagletech in the Dock and externally using the USB connection.

Not the fastest, but the ability
to carry very large amounts of data negates the speed factor.

Heres’ a breakdown of the
Removable Storage test, taking a look at the 256Mb files test:

Looking at this test it appears
the EagleTech performs a bit better, but according to the overall
test we know it really does not.

One observation I have is that I
left the hard drive on for a few hours while in the dock, when I
pulled it out it was very hot to the touch. I didn’t see anything in
the documentation about leaving it on for extended periods of time,
but I wouldn’t, and really I don’t think you’re supposed to, it’s
more of a turn it on, transfer files and take with you type of thing.

Summary
and Comments:

The Eagle iNeo I-NA303USUE is
a decent product overall it’s very useful and convenient to have the
dock right in your computer so your portable storage is easily
accessible.

Of course though you’ll still need
to take the power supply and data cable with you to wherever you’re
going, but that’s the same with most any enclosure.

The heat issue is somewhat of
concern, but really though most people won’t be leaving a portable
hard drive on all of the time, I just happened to do it because I got
busy with other things.

DragonSteelMods gives the Eagle
iNeo I-NA303USUE a 4.5 out of 5 score.

Pros:

-Works great

-Well made

-Easy to use

-Nice idea to have portable HDD to
dock in computer

Cons:

-Not very fast

-Gets very hot if left on while
docked

I
would like to thank Eagletech for the chance to review the Eagle
iNeo I-NA303USUE
and for their continued support of DSM.

review# 527